Multi-layer antireflection coating

ABSTRACT

A quasi-symmetrical three-layer coating of a desired equivalent refractive index N having a wide dispersion effect in the regions adjacent to the visible region is presented. The coating consists of various substances deposited in vacuum in a stable manner. One layer of a quasi-symmetrical three-layer coating is substituted by a glass to be coated. When the glass to be coated has not the refractive index of 1.52 or 1.74, a suitable layer lambda /4 in thickness is coated over said glass.

(:-i. -7]- YL Y Umted States Patent 1191 1111 3,738,732 Ikeda 1 June 12,1973

[ 4] MULTI-LAYER ANTIREFLECTION 3,565,509 2/l97l Sulzback 350/164 COATNG 3,432,225 3/1969 Rock 350/164 [75] Inventor: Hideo Ikeda, Kamakura, Japan FOREIGN TS OR APPLICATIONS [73] Assignee: Nippon Kogaku K.K., Tokyo, Japan 921,751 3/1963 Great Britain 350/164 Filedi 1970 Primary Examiner-Ronald L. Wibert [2!] Appl. No.: 78,389 Assistant Examiner-Ronald J. Stern Attorney-Ward, McElhannon, Brooks & Fitzpatrick [30] Foreign Application Priority Data [57] ABSTRACT 0m. 9, 1969 Japan 44/8037l I A quas1-symmetr1cal three-layer coatmg of a deslred 52 us. 01. 350/164, 117/333 squivsls"t refractive index N having s Wide dispersion 51 Int. Cl. G02b 1 10 effect in the regions adjacent to the visible region is [58] Field f Search 350 1 1 3 17 33 presented. The coating consists of various substances deposited in vacuum in a stable manner. One layer of a quasi-symmetrical three-layer coating is substituted 5 References Cited by a glass to be coated. When the glass to be coated has UNITED STATES PATENTS not the refractive index of 1.52 or 1.74, a suitable layer M4 in thickness is coated over said glass. 3,235,397 2/1966 Mlllendorfer 350/164 3,463,574 8/1969 Bastien et a]. 350/164 7 Claims, 28 Drawing Figures k 4 (Mg F2) PAIENIED Jul! 2 an WAVE LENGTH 700m PAIENIEUJUN'P'W 3338.732

SIEEI 0H 15 FIG. 5

4 MP2 n2 INSERTING SECOND LAYER OF [L n3 INSERTING SECOND LAYER OF 4* (A2 0 n4 WITH MOST APPROPRIATE n POSSIBILITY OF |Rl 0.3%

WAvE LENGTH 400m,

FIG. 6

INSERTING SECOND LAYER OF n=2.0

INSERTING SECOND LAYER OF 1} WITH MOST APPROPRIATE n x (Al203) POSSIBILITY OF IRI O.3%

MgF? WAVE LENGTH 600 m PAI'ENIEB JUN I 2 I913 3.738.732 SIEU 08 I 15 k INSERTING SECOND LAYER oF ,n= z MgF2 n2 n3 INSERTING SECOND LAYER OF A x WITH MOST APPROPRIATE n z (A2203) POSSIBILITY OF IRI O,3% 5

WAVE LENGTH 700 my.

PREMIER-" 0 3.738.732 81m oar 15 FIG. 9

ng ng WAVE LENGTH (600mm WAVE L NG H 400m -7O0m REGION VISIBLE PERIPHERAL REGION Pmmmw i3'.73s.132

8m US$15 SYMMETRIC THREE-LAYER FILM (REPLACED BY EQUIVALENT FILMI TEEEZ QuAsI SYMMETRIC THREE-LAYER FILM (QUASI EQUIVALENT FILMI 400m 500m I 600m, 700m 400m 500m, 600m, 700m Pmurmm 57539.132

PAltlIinmznza I 3.738.732 am mar 1 L39 (nhno) WAVE LENGTH 4OOm J.

WAVE LENGTH 700 m PATENIEB m n 2 ma 3.138.132 Sill 15! 15 FIG. 23

(MgFZ) (TiO2) 1 MULTI-LAYER ANTIREFLECTION COATING FIELD OF INVENTION This invention relates to a multi-layer antireflection layer.

DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ARTS One of the prior art antireflection layers is a singlelayer coating of MgF with an optical thickness of M4 See FIG. I In case of a glass to be coated having a high refractive index, there has been used a doublelayer coating See FIG. 2 whose layer M2 in thickness which attains the equivalent effect as that of the MgF single-layer coating relative to a central wavelength is interposed between the glass and MgF, layer so that the reflectivity at light wavelengths other than the central wavelength in the visible region may be reduced. From FIGS. 1 and 2, it is-seen that the reflectivity curves are extremely in V- and W-shaped forms so that these antireflection coating are not satisfactory in view of the spectral characteristics in the visible region. To overcome this problem, the U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,478,385 and 3,185,020 disclose a ng-k,/4 -)t,/2-k,/4- air type antireflection coating and AF Turner introduced a ng %)t,-k,/2-)t,/4- air type three-layer antireflection coating. Moreover, Hass proposed a ng )t,/4- k,/4-A,/2-k,/4 t/4 air type four-layer antireflection coating while the U.S. Pat. No. 3,235,397 discloses also a four-layer antireflection coating concisting only of the layers less than M4 in thickness.

However, these antireflection coatings have the following problems:

I. the problem of production, that is, it is impossible to obtain a substance to be vacuum deposited which has a desired refractive index or such substance which is stable chemically and physically;

2. the problem of not sufflciently low reflectivity in the regions less than 4,200A. and higher than 6,500A. in the visible region;

3. the problems brought about when a glass blank having a refractive index of the order of 1.6, etc.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One of the objects of the present invention is therefore to provide an antireflection coating which is stable physically and chemically and which has a substantially flat reflective index less than 0.2 0.3 percent in the visible region( 4,000A 7,000A.) that is which is transparent acromatic in the visible region.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a graph 'of a spectral reflective-indexes of the prior single-layer antireflection coating made of MgF,, that is rug \/4 air FIG. 2 is a graph of a spectral reflectivity of the prior art double-layer antireflection coating, 2 that Is ng A/2 M4 air);

FIG. 3(a) is an explanatory view illustrating by vector method the reflectivity to central wavelength of 500 my. and a region less than 0.3 percent of the MgF, layer M4 in thickness over a glass with a refractive index of 1.5;

FIG. 3( b) is an explanatory view illustrating by vector method the necessity of interposing a layer M4 in thickness between the MgF, layer and the glass in order to reduce the reflectivity less than 0.3 percent;

FIG. 4(a) shows in the vector method the reflectivity at the wavelength of 400 mp. of the double-layer coating presumed from FIG. 3(b) and the prior art threelayer coating for improving the defect of this doublelayer coating;

FIG. 4(b) shows a vector representation of the reflectivity at the wavelength of 600 p. of the double-layer coating described with respect to FIG. 3(b);

FIG. 4(a) shows a vector representation of the reflectivity at the wavelength of 700 p. of the double-layer coating described with respect to FIG. 3(b);

FIG. 5 shows by the vector method the conditions for reducing the reflectivity less than 0.3 percent at a wavelength for example 400 my. in the visible region, the reflectivity of the prior art three-layer coating being shown by the solid line, the two-dot chain line indicating the reflectivity of the three-layer coating when the refractive index of its middle layer is varied, and the broken line indicating the re-' flectivity less than 0.3 percent without adversely affecting the central wavelength;

FIGS. 6 and 7 are views similar to FIG. 5, but at 600 and 700 my; the reflectivity of the prior art three-layer coating being indicated by the two-dot chain line (1) while the reflectivity of the three layer coating less than 0.3 percent obtained by varying the refractive index of the middle layer without adversely affecting the central wavelength being indicated by the broken line (2);

FIG. 8 is a graph of an equivalent refractive index to ks/k of a symmetrical three-layer coating;

FIG. 9 is a graph of AND to Its/k of a symmetrical three-layer coating;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating the design of a first embodiment of the present invention wherein,

FIG. 10(4) shows a diagram of coating layers and lists the conditions at 600 mu as in FIG. 6, and FIG. 10(b) shows a diagram of coating layers and lists the conditions at 400 my. as in FIG. 5 or 700 my. in FIG. 7;

FIG. 1 1 shows the spectral reflectivity of the first embodiment in comparison with that of the prior art symmetrical three-layer coating;

FIG. 12 shows the spectral reflectivity of a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a spectral reflectivity of a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 14 and 15 are diagrams illustrating in vector method the reflectivity at 400 my. and 700 my. and the regions less than 0.3 percent to improve the doublelayer coating;

FIG. 16 shows the spectral reflectivity of the fourth embodiment of the present invention in comparison with the prior art double-layer coating;

FIG. 17 shows the construction of the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating by the vector method the reflectivity at 400 my. and 700 mg. of the fifth embodiment of the present invention and its construction;

FIG. 19 shows the spectral reflectivity of the fifth embodiment;

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating the construction of the fifth embodiment;

FIG. 21 shows the spectral reflectivity of a sixth embodiment of the present invention;

' FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating the construction thereof;

FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating a seventh embodiment in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 24 shows the spectral reflectivity thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In general, the antireflection coatings are designed based on the conventional methods such as l. the method of observation based upon the analysis conditions;

2. the method of employing graphical approximation, as in the case of the doubleand three-layer antireflection coatings by A. F. Turner or employing the Vector system or the Smiths chart; and

3. the numerical calculation employing the design parameters such as refractive index, optical thickness of film, etc.

However, these methods are inconvenient and not satisfactory to discuss the effect of the three-layer or four-layer antireflection coating in the whole visible region. In other words, these methods are only effective when the reflectivity at the central wavelength A, or a specific wavelength is studied.

The inventor therefore took a consideration of the effects of antireflection coating not only in the region near the central wavelength but also the regions of wavelengths shorter and longer than the central wavelength. More specifically, the inventor employed first the conventional method (2) for obtaining the fundamental observation, that is for obtaining a MgF, layer which is most stable physically and chemically and most effective layer between a medium and a glass for a specific wavelength or a number of waves. The antireflection coating is limited in its use in the visible region; the object of the analyses is directed to the effect over the whole visible region; and the problem of controlling the thickness of the coating in production must be taken into consideration so that the wave number region to be taken into consideration becomes within the region of (l 8, l 8) where 8= max IM/lt, ll ,[M/A, ll

A, and M the upper and lower limits of wavelengths.

Therefore, the thickness of the coating will become A,/4+k')t,/2 (k=0, 1,2,

if the symmetrical effect is desired to the wave number 1 which is apparent from I-Ierpin matrix where p. refractive index of glass;

n refractive index; 3 2 mid/k, k,/)\; R reflectivity; A, central wavelength; rid/A, thickness of coating; and k= wavelength.

Next when the method (2) is used so that the reflectivity R to the central wavelength becomes less than 0.3 percent, a layer M4 in thickness of a substance having a refractive index between 1.6 and 1.8 such as A1 0,, CeF, etc., must be interposed between the MgF, layer and the glass. (See FIG. 3). (In this case, the refractive index of the glass is assumed 1.52).

However, by the method (2) it is easily presumed that this double-layer antireflection coating has a spectral transmittance which will not satisfy the condition of reflectivity less than 0.3 percent to a specific wavelengths of for example 4,000 A., 6,000 A. and 7,000 A. (in this case, the central wavelength is assumed to have 5,000 A.). (See FIGS. 4(a), 4(b) and 4(0), solid lines).

To overcome this problem, there has been proposed to add a layer which has the antireflection effect gradually increased at the wavelengths other than the central wavelength in the visible region and which has no effect on the central wavelength. For instance, the US. Pat. No. 3,185,020 discloses the interposition ofa layer M2 in thickness between a MgF layer M4 in thickness and an A1 0 layer in M4 in thickness. However, the antireflection coating is not yet satisfactory in the visible region as will be seen from FIGS. 4(a), 4(b), and 4(c), the dotted lines.

When it is desired to have the reflectivity of IR l 5 0.3 percent at 4,000 A. and 7,000 A. and to further improve the reflectivity at 6,000 A., an intermediate layer and an additional layer which may be explained with reference to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are required. That is, it will be seen that a substance with a refractive index n 1.45 1.55 optically M2 mMwhere m l, 2, in thickness must be interposed between the MgF, layer M4 in thickness and the AL,O layer M4 in thickness over the glass for the wavelengths of 4,000 A. and 7,000 A. For the wavelength of 6,000 A. the refractive index of the intermediate layer M2 in thickness must be 1.9 2.0 or a layer of a substance with a refractive index n and a thickness of m)\ (where m 1, 2, must be interposed between the glass and the first AL,O layer M4 in thickness. This is Example (I). Fore each wavelength, the refractive index as well as thickness of a layer must be widely varied. For instance even when the thickness remains unchanged it is next to impossible to find out a substance which may be used in practice to vary its reflective index for each wavelength. The same results are attained in thickness and refractive index of the third layer over the glass which has a desired reflectivity of R 0.3 percent even when the first layer (whose adjacent medium is air) is MgF, M4 in thickness, the second layer M2 in thickness of a substance with a refractive index of 2.0 such as ZnO,, TiO,, ThO etc., and the refractive index of the glass is 1.74. Therefore, there arises a difficult problem that a mixture layer must be provided to attain a refractive index from 1.8 1.9 to the wavelengths outside the visible region and that said mixture layer must change its refractive index widely in the regions adjacent to the visible regions.

There has been known the theory of equivalent coating or film," that is the theory that the symmetrical multi-layers may be substituted by a single layer coating for each wavelength.

The inventor has expanded this theory and found out the two remarkable fundamental characteristics of the thickness of the film when the properties of the third sin g Cos y, (cos y; sin g mi-An) sin g cos g, in; sin y; cos y;

i (COS Q '5; S111 (1 im sin g cos g where g, 2 midi/A, MIA

Milk, optical thickness of a layer, i= 1, 2

ni refractive index, i= 1 and 2;

A, difference of indexes between asymmetrical components k= wavelength; and

A, central wavelength. Eq. (3) may be rewritten where N equivalent refractive index;

2 U /M) i/ ND/A, equivalent thickness of a layer; and AND A iIM) z/M) i Then and N n |n n sin 2g, cos g (n; cos g n sin gr) sin g, I nm sin 2g, cos (11. cos g n sin g sin y;

From Eqs. (6) and (7), it is seen that if the combination of layers A,/2 and )i,/4 in thickness is used, the equivalent refractive index N (A) in the near-region including the central wavelength (0.85 A,/)t 1.15) becomes substantially equal to that to the central wavelength and that the equivalent thickness becomes substantially That is, N 0. z N (M) (9 where 0.85 5 MIA s 1.15 and On the other hand, the equivalent refractive index N (A) to the wavelength in the visible regions ()t,/ 0.8 and A,/). l.2).not including the central or middle wavelength is much deviated from N()t,) and reaches a very great or small value. This is illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9. That is, when the symmetrical third layer is analysed by the theory ofequivalent film," the refractive index N having a wide variance in the regions adjacent to the visible region may be obtained. However, the symmetrical third layer made from a substance which is physically and chemically stable may not have a desired refractive index N.

To overcome this problem, in the process of the design of an antireflection coating in accordance with the present invention, asymmetry is introduced into the refractive index of the symmetrical three-layer coating. For the sake of convenience, this coating will be referred to as quasi-symmetrical layer. Furthermore, the refractive index and thickness of this layer will be referred to as quasi-equivalent refractive index N* and quasi-equivalent thickness ND* hereinafter. Assume that the equivalent refractive index and equivalent thickness of the symmetrical third layer (n n d (n ,n d,) (n,,n,d,) are N, and ND while the quasiequivalent refractive index and quasi-equivalent thickness of the quasi-symmetrical three-layer coating (m M m+ zi' z z) in i) Where (n,+An)d' n d, are N and ND respectively. Then,

from Eq. (5)

N* N(l+An/n (ll) and cos *z l+ cos where 2 Mm/x. (MA); and

This shows that when the non-symmetrical condition An is introduced into the symmetrical three-layer coating, the equivalent refractive index N may be increased or decreased by (An/m) percent for each wavelength. For instance, when n, 2.0 and An 0.1, the equivalent refractive index for each wavelength may be increased by 5 percent. As to the thickness, it is seen from Eq. (6) that when [An/n 0.l5 there arises no problem at all even if the quasi-equivalent thickness is assumed to be equal to the equivalent thickness ND in the visible region. Thus, it is seen that the quasisymmetrical three-layer coating is very effective to provide a desired refractive index N having a wide variance in the regions adjacent to the visible region.

FIRST EMBODIMENT The first embodiment of the present invention will be described. If this is applied to Example (1) described hereinbefore a desired effect will be attained. In Example 1, the refractive index is 1.45 1.5 to the wavelengths of 4,000 A. and 7,000 A., the equivalent thickness ND/A 3/2'A and a layer substantially 3/2-A in thickness to the central wavelength. This layer will become an absent layer in the near-region including the central wavelength and may satisfy the condition of I R i 0.3 percent in the regions adjacent to the visible region and the region or band including the central wavelength.

In order that the layer 3/2 A in thickness may have a refractive index from 1.45 to 1.5 in the regions adjacent to the visible region, the characteristics of the quasi-symmetrical coating must be utilized. One of the arrangements is where ng glass to be coated; and

The first layer of MgF which is M4 in thickness and is made in contact with the air and the fifth layer of AI,O which is A/4 in thickness with a refractive index of 1.6 and is made upon the glass are assumed in conjunction with a physically and chemically stable substance satisfying the conditions of l R! 0.3 percent in the region near the central wavelength.

In order to further improve the reflectivity in the region or band near 6,000 A., a layer A in thickness with a refractive index n less than that (n 1.52) of the glass ng between the latter and the layer with a refractive index of 1.6. This arrangement will be shown by 113- A/4- A/2- A/4- A/4- A/Z- A/4-air ng- A/4- A/Z- A/Z- A/Z- A/4-air It is noted that the first layer in contact with the air is a MgF, layer A/4 in thickness as is clear from FIG. 3 and the second layer must be a layer A/2 in thickness with the same refractive index as that of the TiO, layer from (T-2). When the fourth and second layers are symmetrical, the fourth layer may be a layer A/2 in thickness with a refractive index of 2.0. Similarly, in order that the fifth layer in (T-l may coincide with the sixth layer in (T-2), the third layer is a layer of A1,0 etc., M2 in thickness with a refractive index of 1.6 because of the fourth layer of A1,0,, etc., AM in thickness in consideration of the facts that the fifth layer (interposed between the glass and the adjacent layer) is a layer of Al,0,, etc., A/4 in thickness with a refractive index of 1.6, and that the third layer in (T-2) is a layer of A1 0,, etc., A/4 in thickness with a refractive index of 1.6.

That is, rig-(about 1.6)-(about 2.0)-(about l.6)-(about 2.0)-

A/4 A/2 A/2 A/2 (about l.39)-air The spectral reflectivity of the system obtained by the combination of these three symmetrical three-layer coatings is shown by the dotted line in FIG. 11.

The asymmetry is introduced into the system approximately constructed by the symmetrical three-layer coatings so that the refractive index at 6,000 A. of the layer A in thickness and adjacent to the glass and the refractive index corresponding to that of the intermediate layer 3/2 A in thickness in the regions adjacent to the visible region may be reduced. When the asymmetrical component ratios of An/n 0.05 for the layer adjacent to the glass and A in thickness and Arr/n z 0.05 0.1 for the intermediate layer are introduced, the reflectivity shown by the solid line in FIG. 11 is obtained so that the condition of IR I 0.3 percent may be attained in the whole visible region.

SECOND EMBODIMENT The second embodiment is a system ng-A/4-A/4-A/4-A/2-A/4-air obtained in a similar manner and the third, fourth and fifth layers, each AM in thickness constitutes a quasisymmetrical three-layer coating. The spectral reflectivity is shown in FIG. 12 and is excellent as compared with the conventional antireflection coating.

THIRD EMBODIMENT The third embodiment is a system ng-A/2-A/2-A/2-A/4-air obtained in a similar manner, and the refractive index of the glass is 1.74. The second, third and fourth layers each A/2 in thickness constitute the quasi-symmetrical three-layer coating. The spectral reflectivity is shown in FIG. 13 and the antireflection coating of the third embodiment has an excellent characteristic in the visible region.

The theory of the quasi-symmetrical three-layer coating discussed so far may be further extended so that a layer having a refractive index substantially same as that of the glass may be assumed to be coated over the glass. Then, a quasi-symmetrical three-layer coating including this layer may be considered. In practice, however, this layer is included in the glass so that a number of layers may be minimized while the antireflection effect remains unchanged.

The double-layer (2I-IL type) antireflection coating for a glass having a high refractive index proposed by I-Iass is well known (See FIG. 2), but is not satisfactory from the standpoint of the characteristics in the whole visible region.

FOURTH EMBODIMENT In order to improve the reflectivity in the regions adjacent to the visible region in a double-layer coating, the Hasss layer M2 in thickness is reduced to M4 in the region of 400 mu; a layer A in thickness with a high refractive index higher than 2.3 2.4 must be provided as the third layer below the layer A in thickness and in the region of 700 my. the layer 3/2 A in thickness with 

2. In an optical component including a body having at least one surface through which light is transmissible, and having an antireflection coating on said one surface, the improvement wherein said anireflection coating comprises five layers of material having optical thicknesses not less than one-quarter of the central wave length lambda s of the coating; the first layer adjacent to the air having an optical thickness of lambda /4 and refractive index n1 of less than 1.39, the second layer adjacent to said first layer having an optical thickness of lambda /2 and refraCtive index n2 of about 2.0, the third and fifth layers having refractive indices of about 1.60 and respective different optical thicknesses, wherein the third layer is disposed adjacent the second layer, the fifth layer is disposed on said one surface of said body, and the fourth layer is disposed between the third and fifth layers; and wherein said third to fifth layers form a quasi-symmetrical three layer anti-reflection member, and said component satisfies the following conditions Delta n3/n3 < 0.2 2n3d3 + n4d4 m/4 lambda s (m 1, 2 . . .) n3d3 n4d4 where Delta n3 is the difference between index n3 of the third layer and index n5 of the fifth layer, d3 and d4 designate actual thicknesses of the third and fourth layers, and n3d3/ lambda s and n4d4/ lambda s designate the optical thicknesses of the third and fourth layers respectively.
 3. An optical component according to claim 2, wherein optical thicknesses of the third, fourth and fifth layers are lambda /2, lambda /2 and lambda /4 respectively, the fourth layer has a refractive index of about 2.0, Delta n3/n3 is about 0.05 and the second, third and fourth layers form a second quasi-symmetrical three-layer member satisfying the relationship Delta n2/n2 0.05 * 0.10, where Delta n2 is the difference between index n2 and n4.
 4. An optical component according to claim 2, wherein the optical thicknesses of the third, fourth and fifth layers are lambda /4, lambda /4 and lambda /2 respectively, and the fourth layer has a refractive index of about 1.60.
 5. In an optical component including a body having at least one surface through which light is transmissible, and having an antireflection coating on said one surface, the improvement wherein said antireflection coating comprises at least four layers of material having optical thicknesses not less than one-quarter of the central wavelength lambda s of the coating; wherein three successive layers of said coating form a quasi-symmetrical three-layer antireflection coating, said three successive layers having respective refraction indices n1, n2, and n3; wherein said indices of the first and third layers of said three successive layers satisfy the relationship Delta n1/n1 < 0.2, where Delta n1 is the difference between index n1 of the first layer and index n 3 of the third layer; and wherein said antireflection coating satisfies the following conditions 2n1d1 + n2d2 m/4 lambda s (m + 1, 2, . . .), n1d1 n2d2, and cos g about (n1/n1+ n2), where d1 and d2 designate actual thicknesses of the first and second layers of said three successive layers, n1d1/ lambda s and n2d2/ lambda s designate the optical thicknesses of the first and second layers, respectively, lambda s is a central wavelength, g (2 pi n1d1/ lambda s) lambda s/ lambda and lambda is an arbitrarily chosen wavelength adjacent to the visible range centered at lambda s.
 6. In an optical component including a body having at least one surface through which light is transmissible, and having an anti-reflection coating on said one surface, the improvement wherein said antireflection coating comprises at least four layers of material having optical thicknesses not less than one-quarter of the central wavelength lambda s of the coating; wherein three successive layers of said coating form a quasi-symmetRical three-layer antireflection coating, said three successive layers having respective refraction indices n1, n2, and n3; wherein said indices of the first and third layers of said three successive layers satisfy the relationship Delta n1n1 < 0.2, where Delta n1 is the difference between index n1 of the first layer and index n3 of the third layer; and wherein said anti-reflection coating satisfies the following conditions 2n1d1 + n2d2 m/4 lambda s (m 1, 2, . . . ) , 2n1d1 n2d2, and tan g about n2/n1, where d1 and d2 designate actual thicknesses of the first and second layers of said three successive layers, n1d1/ lambda s and n2d2/ lambda s designate the optical thicknesses of the first and second layers, respectively, lambda s is a central wavelength, g (2 pi n1d1/ lambda s) lambda s/ lambda and lambda is an arbitrarily chosen wavelength adjacent to the visible range centered at lambda s.
 7. In an optical component including a body having at least one surface through which light is transmissible, and having an anti-reflection coating on said one surface, the improvement wherein said antireflection coating comprises at least four layers of material having optical thicknesses not less than one-quarter of the central wavelength lambda s of the coating; wherein three successive layers of said coating form a quasi-symmetrical three-layer antireflection coating, said three successive layers having respective refraction indices n1, n2, and n3; wherein said indices of the first and third layers of said three successive layers satisfy the relationship Delta n1/n1 < 0.2, where Delta n1 is the difference between index n1 of the first layer and index n3 of the third layer; and wherein said anti-reflection coating satisfies the following conditions 2n1d1 + n2d2 m/4 lambda s ( m 1, 2 . . . . ), n1d1 2n2d2 , and cos g about (1+ (n2)/(n1+n2)2 )1/2 n2/n1n2, where d1 and d2 designate actual thicknesses of the first and second layers of said three successive layers, n1d1/ lambda s and n2d2/ lambda s designate the optical thicknesses of the first and second layers, respectively, lambda s is a central wavelength, g 2 pi n1d1/ lambda s) lambda s/ lambda and lambda is an arbitrarily chosen wavelength adjacent to the visible range centered at lambda s. 